Synthesis, characterization, and <i>in vitro</i> anticancer evaluation of iron oxide/chitosan nanocomposites

Abstract

Pure Fe3O4 and NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized and successfully coated with chitosan (CS). XRD patterns confirmed the formation of a pure spinel Fe3O4 and NiFe2O4 structure without presence of any other phases. TEM results revealed that the Fe3O4 and NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were 19.5 and 7.3 nm in size, respectively, with a good homogenous dispersion. The modification using chitosan did not result in a phase change. The binding of chitosan to the Fe3O4/ NiFe2O4 nanoparticles was also demonstrated by the measurement of Fourier transform infrared spectra and thermogravimetric analysis. Magnetic measurements revealed that the saturated magnetization (Ms) was 77.6, 46.2, 8.42, and 49.8 emu/g for Fe3O4, NiFe2O4, Fe3O4/CS, and NiFe2O4/CS, respectively, which are also characteristics of superparamagnetic behavior. Exposure of breast MCF-7, liver HepG2, lung A549, and colon HCT116 human cancer cell lines to the prepared compounds (0–500 μg/mL; 48 h) has resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth determined by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide) assay. Fe3O4/CS nanocomposite exhibited higher cytotoxic activity against liver cancer HepG2 cells whereas, NiFe2O4/CS nanocomposite demonstrated potent cytotoxic activity against both liver cancer HepG2 and human colon cancer HCT116 cell lines comparable to the activity of the commonly used anticancer drug doxorubicin.